


A Knight Fit For A Purpose

by LonelyBlueWolf



Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: Drabble, Follow up to Like The Start Of Every Good Fairy Tale, Gen, RichAss if you squint, probably, the author likes to ramble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 16:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1273849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyBlueWolf/pseuds/LonelyBlueWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is a Knight without his Prince? This is a question which frequently plagues the future Lord of Lhant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Knight Fit For A Purpose

**Author's Note:**

> Follow up longer than it should be drabble for my previous Richard-Centric fic "Like The Start of Every Good Fairy Tale". Felt the need to explain Asbel's side of ~~my headcanon~~ the story.

** A Knight Fit For A Purpose **

 

Time, it seemed, was never on his side.

 

From that very moment when he had thought that he had lost his two best friend - actually did lose one of them, even - Asbel knew that more than anything he wanted to protect the people that he cared about. But most of all, that he wanted to protect Richard. Although the two boys had known each other but a short while, the shared experiences had served to show the young noble how very dear the prince was to him.

 

This was in part, a very large motivation toward his running away from home with the goal in mind of enrolling into the Knights Academy. He could never truly protect those he cared for by following in his father's footsteps; Asbel was truly no politician. And whilst a Lord had a substantial level of power, there were many rules that must be followed, many things he could not do.. and he was for the most part bound to the land under his command. No; if Asbel was to fulfil his true role as a guardian of people, it was something that he would have to work for. Something he would have to _fight_ for.

 

And that he would be in the very city where his good friend lived, close enough to hopefully protect Richard if and when the time came that the would-be monarch would need him to... Yes, this was what he needed to do.

 

However, it did seem that time was truly very much against him. Since the incident in the underground passage, palace security had tightened exponentially. It was entirely understandable, of course. An attempt on the Crown Prince's life was not something to be taken lightly. It was unfortunate, however, that this did very little to aid Asbel in his not-infrequent attempts to see his dear friend.

 

Even when the Academy Students were called upon to guard the sidelines for a royal parade, a celebration of the anniversary of the good King's coronation, Asbel was barely able to get close enough to catch so much as a couple of glimpses of Richard; certainly not enough to alert the boy to his presence. If he could only somehow get a message to the prince, let him know that he was here for him..

 

But maybe it was better this way after all. He with his training, Richard with his own duties.. Asbel could not adequately protect anybody until he was truly a Knight. It would be better for him to dedicate all of his time to his studies. Better for them both.

 

And so, study he did. Asbel strove to do his best in all that he was able, to overcome all barriers that stood between he and his goal. It was not long before the boy became known as one of the most dedicated students that the Academy had seem in many a year. 

 

Soon enough, however, Asbel found that he had run out of study material even in the Academy's vast library, prompting frequent trips whenever permission was granted to the city's own public library.

 

It was upon the return of one of these journeys that the young lord was passing by the market place, as was the norm, when he heard a startled cry of warning.

 

Turning to the noise, Asbel took in the scene before him. The falling of the barrel, the individual standing directly in its path..

 

His reaction was equal amounts of instinct and training. The books he carried dropped to the ground, momentarily forgotten. Asbel sprinted forward, lunging at the 'civilian' as he tackled the lithe form to the ground, rolling them both out of the path of the offending object. As momentum carried them along, Asbel wrapped his arms tightly around the individual to minimise the chance of injury to them both.

 

Once the impetus of their movement came to a rest, Asbel found himself lying upon his back on the solid brick ground, his gaze searching shockingly familiar features for sign on harm.

 

When shocked amber eyes opened above his own, warming in but an instant, Asbel could not hold back a smile. It had taken a while to get there, but it seemed that maybe, just maybe, time _was_ on his side, after all.


End file.
